St. Augustine Hotel

St. Augustine Hotel

1869

1875

1885

April 12, 1887

This building was built as a hotel.

A rental property building for businesses was built in place of the hotel. This building still stands.

Built on the intersection of Cathedral Place and Charlotte Street was the St. Augustine Hotel in 1869. It was the first hotel to have been built in St. Augustine since the Magnolia Hotel in 1847. Three local businessmen pooled their money to build it. These men were: Dr. Andrew Anderson, Jr., Captain George E. Vaill, and Frank H. Palmer who hoped to jump-start St. Augustine's economy by attracting more tourists, but the hotel itself was ordinary despite the Gothic trim popular with Victorians, and no other hotels were immediately built. Dr. Anderson was a "silent partner" according to St. Augustine historian Dr. Thomas Graham, who sold his share to Vaill in the 1870s.

The most famous man to stay at the St. Augustine Hotel was former-President, General U.S. Grant in 1879 with his wife and entourage. His brother-in-law, General Frederick T. Dent was the then-commandant at the St. Francis Barrack's and went to Fernandina to invite his sister and famous brother-in-law to come to St. Augustine.

When it was first built, the St. Augustine Hotel had 80 rooms. It was later upgraded to 140 rooms in 1875. In 1885 it was upgraded to 300 rooms. The hotel and light fixtures were powered by gas. The hotel was destroyed by a fire that burned down the city north of the plaza to Treasury Street in 1887. There are mutiple threories to the cause of the fire but what is known is, it started at the St. Augustine Hotel, and one employee, a woman died.

The property's owner, Captain Vaill built a Moorish Revival style building in its place and leased spaces to restaurants and shops, and this building became known as Vaill's Block. Sometime in the 20th century, the decorative top of that current building was removed.

8-22 Cathedral Place
St. Augustine, FL 32084

The St. Augustine Hotel was built alongside the Cathedral Basilica.

The St. Augustine Hotel had been on the corner of Cathedral Place and Charlotte Street.

The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:

Photograph 1 (c.1879): Harvey, Karen. St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 1980.

Photograph 2 (1882): Glaser, Louis, fec., St. Augustine. New York: Wittemann Brothers, 1882.

Photograph 3 (1883/1885): Knibloe, Walt. F. Schneur's Illustrated Guide and History of St. Augustine, Fla. St. Augustine, FL: Chas. F. Schneur, 1883/1885.

Photograph 4 (2025): Owens, Katherine. "Where the St. Augustine Hotel Was." October 2, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Acadia Publishing, 2008.

Graham, Thomas. The Awakening of St. Augustine: The Anderson Family and the Oldest City, 1821-1924. St. Augustine, FL: Saint Augustine Historical Society, 1978.

Graham, Thomas. Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine. Univ. of Florida Press, 2014.

Harvey, Karen. St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 1980.

Waterbury, Jean Parker, ed. The Oldest City: St. Augustine, Saga of Survival. St. Augustine, FL: St. Augustine Historical Society, 1983.

Flagler College’s Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository are neither the original nor current copyright owner for the photographs. Please contact the publisher or source cited for each photograph to obtain a copy and/or permission to reproduce these items.

The following St. Augustine Fiction books feature this building as a location:
Boscobel
Down South; Or, Yacht Adventures in Florida
Redfish Oak

This record was last updated on October 17, 2025.